1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure generally relates to online and/or mobile payments and more particularly to a secure payment instruction system for online and/or mobile payments.
2. Related Art
More and more consumers are purchasing items and services over electronic networks such as, for example, the Internet. Consumers routinely purchase products and services from merchants and individuals alike. The transactions may take place directly between a conventional or online merchant or retailer and the consumer, and payment is typically made by entering credit card or other financial information. Transactions may also take place with the aid of an online or mobile payment service provider such as, for example, PayPal, Inc. of San Jose, Calif. Such payment service providers can make transactions easier and safer for the parties involved. Purchasing with the assistance of a payment service provider from the convenience of virtually anywhere using a mobile device is one main reason why on-line and mobile purchases are growing very quickly.
Purchasing from an online merchant with the assistance of a payment service provider includes a payer selecting goods and/or service for purchase and then performing a checkout process to provide payment for those goods and/or service. The checkout process typically requires personal information such as, for example, a payer name, a payer shipping address, a payer payment account, and/or a variety of other payer information known in the art, be provided by the payer as instructions to the payment service provider to make the payment. The need to provide such information raises a number of issues, as the online merchant may not be a trusted entity or the online merchant system may have been compromised such that any payer information sent to the online merchant is at risk.
Conventionally, the use of a payment service provider in the checkout process requires that the payer be redirected from the online merchant website to a payment service provider website in order to ensure that payer information is not put at risk. The payer will typically request to use the payment service provider to complete the checkout process, and the payer will then be redirected from the merchant website to the payment service provider website such that the payer information may be securely provided and displayed for selection in order to provide instructions for the payment to the online merchant. Such conventional checkout processes protect the payer information by ensuring that the payer information is only sent between the payment service provider and the payer. However, many online merchants would prefer to host the entire checkout process at their online merchant website, as it provides the online merchant with more control over the shopping experience of the payer, allows the online merchant to take advantage of upsell opportunities, and is less confusing to the payer.
Thus, there is a need for an improved secure payment instruction system.